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The C919 is designed for short- to medium-range hauls up to 5,555 km, and can seat as many as 200 depending on the configuration. According to state media, the first "9" in the jet's name was chosen because it suggests eternity in Chinese culture, with the "19" referring to the 190 seats the plane might accommodate. The "C" stands for COMAC.
Executives from global aviation suppliers are expected to make visits to China's main aircraft maker in the coming three months as the latter will select engine suppliers for the country's first-ever jumbo jet by the end of 2009.
COMAC is currently in talks with major engine suppliers, including General Electric, Rolls Royce and United Technologies Corp's Pratt & Whitney, a senior executive of the firm said at the Asian Aerospace International Expo and Congress in Hong Kong yesterday.
COMAC will select engine suppliers for the C919 project by the end of 2009, said Chen Jin, general manager of COMAC's sales and marketing department.
"We expect the C919 will have its test flight in 2014 and be delivered to customers in 2016," he added.
The profitable C919 project, believed to enable engine suppliers to pocket nearly $200 billion by 2050, has attracted proposals from global aviation suppliers.
Officials from General Electric, the US technology conglomerate, have made repeated visits to Shanghai-based COMAC over the last month and have said they are confident that the company will win contracts to supply engines for China's largest aircraft project.
The company's aircraft engines are the best and that makes the company very confident about being chosen as a supplier, Mark Norbom, GE's China president was quoted by Reuters as saying.
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